Electrical connector with automatic conductor termination

Abstract

An electrical connector includes a housing (12) and a coupling assembly (35) that has a mateable contact (32) at the front of the housing and a conductor-terminating coupling (34). The coupling has a pair of arms (38, 40) with jaws (48) that are biased toward an axis (37). A holder member (54) has a pair of projections (58, 60) with surfaces that hold the arms in a ready position wherein they have been resiliently deflected away from the axis. When a cable conductor (66) is inserted forwardly (F) through a bore (28) in the housing, the forward tip of the cable presses the coupling assembly forwardly. As the coupling assembly moves forward, the arms are released from the holder members, so the arms can move toward the axis and the jaws (48) on the arms can engage the cable conductor.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An electrical connector that can terminate to a conductor of a cable, said connector having a front end that can detachably mate to a connector device that has a mateable contact member, comprising: a housing which has open front and rear ends;   a coupling assembly that lies in said housing and that includes a contact lying at least partially in said housing front end and positioned to mate with said contact member of said connector device;   said coupling assembly including a coupling that is connected to said contact, said coupling having a plurality of jaws biased toward an axis;   a holder member lying within said housing and having a holder part that engages said coupling and holds said jaws apart in a ready position to allow said cable conductor to move along said axis between said jaws, with said coupling being disengageable from said holder part to allow said jaws to move toward each other under the force of said bias, so said jaws can engage said cable conductor under the force of said bias to provide secure electrically conductive contact between said jaws and said cable conductor under the force of said bias.   
     
     
       2. The electrical connector described in claim 1 wherein: said coupling includes a piece of resilient sheet metal that includes a base connected to said contact and with said piece of sheet metal including a plurality of arms extending from said base;   each of said arms has a proximal portion extending from said base and a distal portion extending from said proximal portion, with said distal portion of each of said arms having a plurality of fingers including a jaw finger that forms one of said jaws and a positioning finger;   said coupling is moveable parallel to said axis relative to said holder member from said ready position to a terminate position wherein said jaws have moved closer together than in said ready position, and in said ready position said positioning fingers lie against said holder member to hold said jaw fingers away from a conductor extending along said axis, but said positioning fingers being positioned to disengage from said holder member, when said coupling moves parallel to said axis away from said ready position, to allow said jaw fingers to move closer to said axis and engage said conductor.   
     
     
       3. The electrical connector described in claim 2 wherein: said coupling has a surface lying adjacent to said axis to be pushed forwardly by said conductor.   
     
     
       4. An electrical connector for terminating to a conductor of predetermined radius, comprising: a housing which has a front end that is open;   a coupling assembly that lies in said housing, said coupling assembly including a contact with a mateable end lying at least partially in said housing front end and also including a coupling;   said coupling is formed of sheet metal and has at least one arm with a jaw end lying in a ready position radially outward of a conductor axis by at least said predetermined radius, said arm being resiliently deflectable away from said axis to move said jaw end to said ready position, and said arm being resiliently biased toward a position wherein said jaw end tends to lie closer to said axis than said predetermined radius;   said housing including a bore that is open along said axis from the rear of said housing to a position forward of said jaw end, to allow said conductor to be pushed along said bore;   a holder member lying in said housing and holding said arm in a resiliently deflected position away from said axis wherein said jaw lies in said ready position;   of said holder member and said coupling, one of them is moveable to release said arm from said holder member and allow said arm to move away from said ready position and thereby allow said jaw end to move closer to said axis and engage said conductor.   
     
     
       5. The electrical conductor described in claim 4 wherein: said coupling is moveable forwardly along said axis, and said coupling has a generally rearwardly-facing surface positioned to be pressed forwardly by said conductor until said arm is released from said holder member.   
     
     
       6. The electrical connector described in claim 4 wherein: said coupling is fixed to said contact, and they are slidable together along said axis.   
     
     
       7. The electrical connector described in claim 4 wherein: said piece of sheet metal of which said coupling is formed, includes a base that lies primarily in a plane that is normal to said axis and that has opposite base sides that lie on opposite sides of said axis, and said at least one arm comprises a pair of arms that each is integral with a different one of said opposite sides of said base, with each arm having a proximal end that forms a bend and that merges with a side of said base and with each arm having a distal end portion that has at least one slot that divides the distal end portion into a jaw finger that forms one of said jaw ends and a positioning finger that engages said holder member.   
     
     
       8. The electrical connector described in claim 4 wherein: said coupling assembly is slidable along said axis;   said holder member has a bore part with a front portion that closely surrounds said conductor in said terminate position, to support said conductor against collapse when a rearward force is applied to said coupling assembly.   
     
     
       9. An electrical connector that is terminatable to a conductor, comprising: a housing with open front and rear ends, with said rear end having a bore for passing said conductor in movement forwardly along an axis to a fully inserted position;   a coupling assembly lying in said housing and including a contact having a portion lying at said housing front end and also including coupling means with at least one arm that includes a jaw end that can move toward said axis to engage said conductor and that is resiliently biased toward said axis to firmly engage a conductor in said fully inserted position;   holder means lying in said housing and having a holder surface for engaging said at least one arm and holding said at least one arm so said jaw end is held away from the position of said conductor in said fully inserted position, with at least one of said means being moveable to release said at least one arm from said holder surface.